"Dar Days / Light Years"
(Rough Trade)
seven / ten
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SUPER FURRY ANIMALS "Dar Days / Light Years" (Rough Trade)
seven / ten |
"DonÕt it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone".
It's hard not to think of that line when faced with the latest release from Super Furry Animals. A model of consistency throughout times when bands hyped to the heavens have sunk without trace soon after, there is a nagging sense that these madcap Welshmen will never get the credit they fully deserve.
Is Dark Days/Light Years likely to refocus the spotlight on this band? Probably not. They had their chance to reach for the stars with 1996's debut Fuzzy Logic, but in hindsight they perhaps chose the better career option. Would having their mugs plastered on the cover of a sensation starved NME every other week have allowed them to flex their musical muscles? Highly unlikely.
The reality that instead unfolded was one where the Cardiff natives constantly refined their sonic brew over the course of eight albums. On release number nine even the kitchen sink could be found if one looked hard enough.
The Furries show their love of 70s rifferama on opener 'Crazy Naked Girls', and Neil Young will be mightily pleased when he hears 'White Socks/Flip Flops'. Elsewhere the influence of fellow experimentalists XTC is evident on ÔInaugural Trams', while it's not a stretch to describe 'The Very Best Of Neil Diamond' (nice title, guys) as having a Bollywood flavour.
Not all of the songs here hit the target, but just wading through it all is fun in itself. Dark Days/Light Years is yet another fine addition to the Super Furry Animals body of work- unlikely to be stacked at a Tesco near you, but one gets the sense that they wouldnÕt have it any other way.
Alan Morrissey
www.superfurry.com
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